Kitten Care at local Shelter

Ouch! I'm so sorry your husband is opposed to you fostering kittens at home for a couple of days here and there.

I am delighted to hear that they will allow you to come in at 8am now. One small victory!

It really sounds like you are an invaluable volunteer at the rescue. You do so much and are so dedicated!

Are all of the cats and kittens on their own with whatever food they are left with from noon today until 8 am tomorrow morning? That's 20 hours - almost a full day. I hate hearing this.

I'm glad you have some extra time for the rescue today and tomorrow.

Once you save your picture to your computer or your phone, you just upload it using the picture icon in the box.

I can't wait to see the babies .

These are the bottle babies. As you can tell they need a bath. That is going to happen tomorrow...after feeding them.
Yes as far as I know they are alone from noon until eight am tomorrow. I don't like it either. Hubby knows I am not happy. Hopefully he will change his mind.
Maybe some crappy meals and him being alone a lot more over the next few days will be enough to persuade him. If not I may have to resort to guilting him.
Thank you for listening,
Tammy

They are so precious! Those little faces and big wide eyes just really pull me in. So tiny, so helpless and dependent, so in need of comforting.

It's just a total "how can you not help them" deal for me. But then, that's why I've helped cats my whole life and why I'm on this site.

I know that animals cost time and money, and they can also break our hearts, but I don't understand folks who have no room in their lives to help. Not all the time, of course, but sometimes.

My husband continues to claim to be anti-cat, however, he talks to all of them and goes around to see where they are.  He has even broken down and visited with the foster kitty who has not been introduced to the others yet.

I give him a couple days notice when a foster cat is coming.  He has learned to take it in stride.

I hope yours will come around.  Has he seen the pictures?

The kittens are so cute.  thank you for taking such good care of them.

I went to the shelter and the kittens were hungry! The little tabby ate the gruel like a champ. The grey one doesn't want anything to do with it yet. The dish that I left last night was almost empty so that is a good sign.
I went as soon as they opened and they were standing at the cage door waiting for me and crying. Far to cute!
After letting them eat the gruel .. Well one of them... I bottle fed the grey baby and he drank 3 ounces right down. Started purring and snuggled in the fleece towel and started to dose off. I tried to feed the tabby but she was full from the gruel and just wanted to nap also.
I medicated all the other kitties, gave them food and attention. Mixed up another bottle to get it warm for a feeding just before I left.
As that was warming up...bath time!
Oh. My. Word. They were crusty and filthy. They have fleas too. I put them in a large dog bowl filled with warm after and I put a ring of dawn dish soap around their neck. They didn't mind the bath at all. The water turned a bloody brown. I washed the with dawn and then tinted them off really well. I used my finger to wash their faces and pick the fleas off of their heads. Most of the fleas were dead in the water when we got done.
When I toweled them off even the white towel had brown old blood on it. Lots of dead fleas came off when I was drying them. A few were a live but were quickly put in water to drown.
I swear those kittens just looked at me like I was their mom!
I wrapped them in a warm fleece from the dryer and they just purred and purred. I also switched cages and put all new bedding in it, food and litter box so they would not get re infested. Mi did me one at a time.
After that they were covered with another warm fleece and the slept for an hour.

There are two other young kittens that I have been feeding gruel too. They were all dirty and crusty. Same thing. Fleas and the water was bloody brown. I got those two all cleaned up and nestled in new bedding and supplied them with fish gruel with kitten milk. They were sleeping all nestled together.

After visiting with the rest of the kitties I went back to the bottle babies. Grey girl at another 3 ounces and tabby girl ate 2 ounces. I burped them and they looked so cute, clean and sleepy. They really looked much better today. I fixed them gruel and kitten food mixed with kitten milk. They were so cute with a little drop of milk on their chins when I was cuddling them.

When I left they were all snuggled up sleeping with full bellies. I am so happy at they are looking better.

I did tell the shelter worker again about the blood in the poop. It is the tabby. She is going to worm them tomorrow because they had such a long morning with the baths. She said she also has to figure out what they can have and the dosage because they are so tiny.

I have to get my kitchen scale so I can weight them. I plan on going after work the next so days, medicating the kitties and bottle feeding the babies. On Thursday I will give them another bath and be able to spend more time with them.

Thanks for reading all that!
Tammy

You are amazing! This would be so much easier if you could take them home.

Oh trust me I know it would be way easier! I have to work with what I can though. I need to get them flea free before I can consider talking with hubby again. My one kitty at home , Emmitt , is allergic to flea meds so I don't dare expose him to fleas. Emmitt is also allergic to fleas so I have to be extra careful.

I was so excited after giving them baths and full bellies that I forgot to take pics!!!! Tomorrow I promise.
Tammy

I just love your very descriptive posts about caring for these kittens and cats. It is obvious that, without you, these kittens might not still be here. The sick cats too, are getting better due to your ministrations.

I know the kittens must feel so much better from the warm Dawn baths, and having full bellies, and clean bedding.

You really are making such a huge difference!

Thank you so much for the compliment.  I really am using this as a daily diary type thing.  I look at them and see where I can manage my time better in the shelter.

One of the sick kitties Gretal...was so bad with an uri and eye infection.  She is on day 9 of meds and the lady today said she had been off a few days but when she came in today she couldnt believe how good she looks.  Now that right there...is why I go.

The kittens are just so cute and I think that the older cats get forgotten.  We did have a 4 month old kitten adopted today (whoot!), and I tried my darndest to talk the parents into taking two.  I pointed out Mama kitty for an older cat as she is very laid back and loving,  and of course I used the line of the kitten is going to need a playmate.  They laughed and smiled and said they would think about it. 

I do my best.  I guess that is all anyone can really do.  It might not always work out but at least I know I tried.  That is more than a lot of people can say.

I really enjoy sharing my time at the shelter with you all.  I hope you dont mind me posting so much and in such detail.

Tammy

I thought I would show you some pics of my own forever kitties =) 


My Little Man Emmitt.  Dropped by a red tailed hawk in the neighbors yard at 5 weeks.  He is a cuddle bug!

Sophie was a kitten of a stray Mama that I rescued with 3 of her other siblings.  She is 6 months old.  Mama was a tuxedo and so were all her siblings.

Pudgie who was rescued as a kitten and almost died.  She is 8 now.

Nala who was eating out of our trash and starved.  No hair from her back legs to the tip of her tail from flea allergies and infestations.  She is guessed to be around 6 years old.  She has the longest, silkiest hair I have ever felt.

Little Miss.  She is a foster kitty for a military family that we will have for 30+ months.  She just came in June of 2015 and is still getting acclimated to the group.  She is 9 years old.  The military family couldnt take her with them so we volunteered to keep her until they get back.

Oh, my gosh!

I love all of them! [emoji]128571[/emoji][emoji]128571[/emoji][emoji]128571[/emoji]

I just love rescues! They make the best pets. Every cat I've ever had in my life has been a rescue. Woman after my own heart!